MOBILE FOOD PANTRY MANUAL

MOBILE FOOD PANTRY MANUAL

WELCOME! Welcome to Roadrunner Food Bank! Roadrunner Food Bank is New Mexico s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in New Mexico. Last year, Roadrunner Food Bank distributed over 28 million pounds of food through a statewide network of over 600 partner agencies and four regional food banks. Roadrunner Food Bank converts every $1 donated into $9 of fresh produce, bread, meat and non-perishables for hungry New Mexicans. Roadrunner Food Bank is the only member of Feeding America the Nation s Food Bank Network in New Mexico. Roadrunner Food Bank has distributed more than 221 million pounds of food in New Mexico since 1996. Last year alone, 6.2 million pounds of food was distributed through the Mobile Food Pantry Program. On behalf of Roadrunner Food Bank s staff and volunteers, we welcome you to our program and thank you for your support. Please keep this manual for your reference. Feel free to contact your Roadrunner Food Bank representative with any questions/comments you have regarding this manual. 2

WHAT IS A MOBILE FOOD PANTRY A Mobile Food Pantry is a food distribution program in which food is delivered via a Roadrunner Food Bank truck to a designated location for immediate distribution to hungry people with no need for storage. Religious organizations, schools, businesses, and civic or fraternal organizations finance the distribution and provide the volunteers to manage it. Currently, there are over 80 Mobile Food Pantry distributions now taking place across New Mexico each month. BENEFITS OF A MOBILE FOOD PANTRY Many religious and charitable organizations have, as their mission, service to the hungry in their community, but various barriers may prevent them from doing so. Some organizations do not have the physical space appropriate for the handling and storage of food, particularly food that may need to be refrigerated and/or frozen. While an organization may have the physical capacity for food distribution, they may not be located in a neighborhood easily accessible to those in need. With the Mobile Food Pantry program, food is brought directly to underserved communities and locations without time-consuming and costly construction or renovation of storage facilities. Mobile food pantries also provide the opportunity for religious and charitable organizations to partner with local governments, businesses, schools and others to fund and manage the Mobile Food Pantry distribution. A one-time distribution can develop into a long-term partnership of providing necessary services for hungry people in the community. Finally, Mobile Food Pantries provide clients the opportunity to select the amount and type of food that their family needs. The farmer s market-style distribution encourages greater interaction between volunteers and clients, allowing them to share recipes, family traditions, life stories and more. Clients shop with dignity and self-worth in an active social environment. ELIGIBILITY Any interested religious or nonprofit organization, individual, group of individuals, or business can sponsor a Mobile Food Pantry distribution. Sponsors must complete a brief application describing their program. DISTRIBUTION SITE REQUIREMENTS While the Mobile Food Pantry is designed to reduce physical barriers to food distribution, it is necessary to have an appropriate distribution location to accommodate the delivery of a large truckload of food product and the families it will be serving. Sponsoring Organizations must provide a site that meets the following guidelines for Mobile Food Pantry distributions: 1. The site must be large enough for a truck/trailer to pull through and/or turn around. 2. The entrance needs to be at least 15 ft. wide that is free of obstructions (fences, fire hydrants, trees, signs, telephone/light poles, parked cars, etc.). Ideally, there should be no parked cars within 10 ft. of the entrance. 3

3. The parking surface should ideally be paved. Gravel and dirt surfaces are not conducive to our heavy trucks and equipment, but can be assessed by your Roadrunner Representative on an as-needed basis 4. Distributions may not take place on the street or any public sidewalks without written permission from the city to do so. 5. Clients may not be within 3 ft. of the truck entrance or lane and clients must remain a minimum of 10 ft. from the truck while it is unloading unless they are given explicit permission by a Roadrunner driver. 6. If the distribution site is at or near a school, the distribution must take place when there will not be children entering or exiting the school. Please inform your Roadrunner Food Bank representative if you are having difficulty finding an acceptable location. We are here to help make your Mobile Food Pantry distribution as smooth and successful as possible. MOBILE FOOD PANTRY CONTENTS/PRICING Roadrunner Food Bank is committed to providing nutritious food that clients can integrate into their diets and help to stretch their food dollars. Mobile Food Pantry sponsors have the opportunity to select the amount of food they would like to distribute, but not the specific items. In order to receive a Mobile Food Pantry distribution the sponsoring organization must commit to a minimum of 2,500 pounds of food, enough for 50 families. Each Mobile Food Pantry is stocked with items selected by Roadrunner Food Bank staff to ensure appropriate weight and variety. Products may include produce, bakery goods, meat products, dairy and a variety of dry goods products as determined by Roadrunner Food Bank. There is a Sponsorship Fee associated with the Mobile Food Pantry program. Sponsorship Fee is based on number of households served and is listed below: No. of HH Price 50-74 $150.00 75-99 $175.00 100-149 $250.00 150-199 $350.00 200-400 $450.00 The ORDERING PROCEDURES Initial Mobile Food Pantry distributions must be scheduled at least four (4) weeks in advance so that the necessary logistical arrangements can be made, though this does not ensure that a time slot will be available. To ensure that you are able to have a distribution on your requested day, please schedule the distribution as soon as possible since the monthly calendar fills up quickly. Fully complete the included application and fax, email or mail back to your RRFB representative. You will be given the opportunity to select two (2) potential distribution dates and times, and the product amount. All scheduling forms must be submitted via the website (please see packet for further instructions). Prior to confirmation of the distribution, an authorized contact for the site must complete the Civil Rights Training and Quiz via the RRFB website (please see packet for further instructions). 4

Once the initial scheduling form has been submitted the Sponsoring Organization ONLY needs to submit another one if they are changing the date/time, location, or number of households served. Regularly scheduled stops are encouraged as it allows clients to plan for future distributions more easily. Mobile Food Pantry distributions on your requested date/time are subject to calendar availability, and your RRFB representative will notify you of any schedule changes that may affect your regular distribution. If you wish to cancel or reschedule a distribution you must do so via email at least one week prior to the distribution. If you do not, and the truck arrives for your distribution we will charge a restocking fee of up to $15 per 25 households. DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURES On the day of the distribution itself, the Roadrunner Food Bank truck will arrive approximately half an hour before the distribution is scheduled to begin. Distribution should start no later than one hour after the food is delivered. Volunteers should have the tables set up and be ready to unload the truck upon arrival. Clients will arrive soon after and begin making their selections. Sufficient volunteers must be available to assist with customer registration, food selection and carrying food boxes/bags to the clients vehicles. When everyone has been served (approx. 2 hours), volunteers are responsible for cleaning up the site. There should be no leftover food. In the event there is any leftover food, the Sponsoring Organization must deliver all leftover food to a Roadrunner Food Bank Partner Agency in the same county. A list of Partner Agencies can be found at www.rrfb.org or through your RRFB Representative. SPONSOR ORGANIZATION RESPONSIBILITIES The success of the Mobile Food Pantry program is contingent on the involvement of the Sponsoring Organization. In order to have the best mobile food pantry distribution possible, the Sponsoring Organization is responsible for several duties before, during and after the distribution. Things to Have at Your MFP Distribution Tables - # depends on amount of food ordered Scissors, knife, or box cutter Battery operated calculator Pens/pencils/writing pad Carts/wheelbarrows/wagons - to assist clients in loading vehicles TEFAP eligibility forms and sign in forms Before Distribution Confirmation forms will be sent out the last week of the month prior to the distribution. It is the Sponsoring Organizations responsibility to check the confirmation form and make sure all the information is correct. If there is incorrect information, the Sponsoring Organization must inform their RRFB representative of any discrepancies as soon as possible. Sponsoring Organizations are responsible for informing local families/individuals of the distribution. It is recommended that organizations not use general public announcements 5

(radio/tv ads, newspaper, etc.) as it may bring more people to the distribution than can be reasonably fed. The most effective forms of outreach are informing clients at surrounding pantries, leafleting the immediate area around the distribution, and working with other neighborhood organizations (schools, senior centers, housing projects, etc.). We recommend advertising the distribution time 30 minutes after the scheduled truck arrival so volunteers will have adequate time to set up. Please keep in mind, for first time distributions you will need to do outreach to one and a half times as many households as you anticipate serving. For example, if you are going to serve 50 families, we recommend you do outreach to at least 75 households to ensure all the food is distributed. Please don t be discouraged if the first distribution yields low client numbers, it is typical of a first-time distribution and will improve over time. The Sponsoring Organization is responsible for providing an adequate number of volunteers to distribute the Mobile Food Pantry products. Roadrunner Food Bank recommends that the organization have a minimum of four volunteers and four tables for every 25 families to be served. This is to ensure that there are an adequate number of volunteers available for a well-run distribution. Please make sure you have enough volunteers to not only staff the distribution tables, but to help carry the product to clients vehicles and for client registration. During Distribution Once the Mobile Food Pantry truck has arrived the sponsoring organization is responsible for setting up the tables, setting up the food, registering clients, assisting clients with product selection, and carrying clients goods to their vehicles. Please make sure all the food that is delivered is distributed! If any food is left over it is the responsibility of the Sponsoring Organization to ensure that the food is either (brought back) returned to Roadrunner Food Bank or donated to a Roadrunner Food Bank approved Partner Agency. To locate a Partner Agency please visit our website at www.rrfb.org or for additional assistance please contact your Roadrunner Food Bank representative. Volunteers at your site may receive food as long as they meet the same income requirements as your clients. If you wish to have volunteers receive food, they must go through the line in intervals to ensure fairness among all clients. For sites allowing volunteers to pick up food, please adhere to the following instructions: 1) All clients must receive a number upon registering. 2) Prior to registering, please set aside numbers at an appropriate interval for your volunteers. Ex. If you are serving 50 households, set aside numbers 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, and 26. This will ensure that volunteers will still receive food while helping speed up the time it takes to start the distribution and ensuring fairness among clients. 3) Once distribution starts, volunteers will leave their station when their number is called. The Free Food flier and Volunteer Standards of Conduct found in the MFP Packet must be clearly displayed during each distribution. 6

After Distribution After all clients have been served, volunteers are responsible for cleaning up the distribution, breaking down tables, and picking up trash. TEFAP self declaration forms for the fiscal year and Bills of Lading must be maintained for a period of at least three years which is a USDA requirement. Reporting Monthly MFP Reports are a necessary part of your organization s participation in the Roadrunner Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry program, and are a requirement for Roadrunner Food Bank to participate in the US Department of Agriculture TEFAP program. You must submit your monthly MFP Reports by their due date each and every month so that RRFB can continue to report to USDA in a timely manner, ensuring the continuation of the TEFAP program to our partners. Reports are due NO LATER than 5:00pm the third calendar day of the month following the month of distribution, and must be submitted through the RRFB website. While we are sympathetic to reasons of illness, unanticipated out-of-town trips and computer problems, it does not excuse your agency from having to submit a monthly MFP Report by its due date. If you have any questions about the Monthly MFP Reporting Process, please contact your appropriate RRFB representative. If extraordinary circumstances exist that will prevent you from submitting your required Monthly MFP Report, please contact your RRFB representative, as soon as possible, so that we are aware of these circumstances ahead of time and can act accordingly. Here are some suggestions to help insure that your organization s report will be submitted on time: Report early. Please note that the 3 rd day of the following month is the last day you can submit your monthly report, not the only day. As an example, for the month of July you can submit your July report from the 4 th day of that month (if your distribution has already taken place) thru the 3 rd day of the following month. Please remember that that all reports are due by 5:00PM on the 3 rd calendar day of the month. If the 3 rd falls on a holiday or the weekend, the MFP report is still due on the 3 rd. Select and train another person within your organization to submit reports in the event you are ill, out of town, your internet connection goes down, etc. MISSING REPORTS Reports will be considered missing if they are not received by the third calendar day of the month. The Organization will be notified by e-mail that their report was not received by the due date and that the missing meals or households served must be submitted on the following months report. The Organization will not receive TEFAP for a period of 30 days. 7

Reinstatement is not automatic. The Organization must apply for reinstatement via the RRFB website. A second missing report in a program year (July-June) will result in the Organization being notified by e-mail that their report was not received by the due date and that the missing meals or households served must be submitted on the following months report. The Organization will not receive TEFAP for a period of 30 days. Reinstatement is not automatic. The Organization must apply for reinstatement via the RRFB website. A third missing report in a program year (July-June) will result in an automatic six month suspension from the TEFAP program. The Organization will be notified by e-mail that it has been suspended from the TEFAP program. Suspended Organizations must apply for reinstatement into the program after the six month period via the RRFB website, as there is not automatic reinstatement. The above sanctions regarding the submission of monthly MFP reports are automatic. There is no appeal. Please submit your monthly MFP reports by their due date. PRODUCT USABILITY It is the Sponsoring Organization s responsibility to check all perishable items (bread and produce) upon delivery. While there may be a few items that are spoiled or rotten, we do not expect you to distribute items if a majority of them are unusable. We are happy to credit you for any spoiled product you are unable to distribute, but it needs to come back to the warehouse for us to do so (or take pictures and email them to your Roadrunner Food Bank representative). Canned foods should only be discarded if there is damage to the top or bottom rim of the can, a sharp dent in the side or rust on the rim. All other dents do not render the can unsuitable for use. Dry good products such as cereal, pasta, and crackers should only be discarded if the inside bag is torn or compromised, even if the outer packaging is damaged. Please remember that food bank product is donated from a number of different sources and sometimes the packaging will be damaged. This does not mean that the product on the inside of the bag or can is compromised. USDA Foods - TEFAP USDA Foods distributed under The Emergency Food Assistance Program TEFAP are included in MFP distributions. This will add a variety of new food products per distribution, and typically includes many sought after food items, included canned meat and poultry. Households must qualify to receive USDA TEFAP Foods by one of several means: they currently receive food stamps; they are currently enrolled in the WIC program; or they qualify by meeting the income guidelines found on the TEFAP forms located in the MFP Related Materials. The USDA sets these income guidelines each year (July 1 st to June 30 th ) and they will be provided to you by RRFB once they are received. Clients are required to sign a self declaration form once each year attesting to the fact that their household meets these income guidelines or qualifies by reason of SNAP/WIC enrollment in person. You will 8

be required to maintain this annually signed form for each household that participates in your MFP distribution for a period of three years. The USDA, State of New Mexico as well as Roadrunner Food Bank require monthly reports on the numbers of households receiving USDATEFAP Foods products. Roadrunner Food Bank extracts this information from your MFP Monthly Report, which is why it is so important to submit them in a timely manner. SPONSOR ORGANIZATION ACCOUNTS All Sponsor Organizations are required to pay their invoice by check. To keep accounts in order, please write your order number in the memo line of your check. The order number can be found on your Bill of Lading in the top right corner. Payment is required within 30 days of receipt. Sponsor Organizations not making timely payments may be subject to sanctions or may be barred from receiving addition Roadrunner Food Bank deliveries. In an effort to be environmentally conscious, all statements are available only via the RRFB website (See MFP Packet for further instructions) INCLEMENT WEATHER We do not want to interrupt the delivery of food to our sites due to inclement weather (snow/mud) so there are a few things we request should your location experience bad weather. First, keep in touch with your Roadrunner Food Bank representative about driving conditions the day prior and the day of your distribution. Second, if driving conditions are fine but your actual site location is not suitable for a large RRFB truck (ice/mud), please identify an alternate location where our driver could meet you to deliver your order. This should be a location that our driver could assist you in transferring food from our truck to your vehicle(s), should you have them, for you to take to your site to distribute. Third, monitor your local conditions so that you and our driver can coordinate about whether the roads are safe and passable, or if the alternate site should be used should you select one. While the final delivery decision rests with the discretion of our driver, your input is valuable and always appreciated. DONATIONS Many Sponsoring Organizations look to outside sources to help pay for their Mobile Food Pantry distributions and Roadrunner Food Bank encourages this. While we certainly approve of seeking the support of local businesses, churches, and civic groups to help fund your Mobile Food Pantry distribution, the Sponsoring Organization is discouraged from accepting donations from the population they are serving, and prohibited from actively soliciting them. The Sponsoring Organization may accept donations from the population they are serving if it is after the distribution, and only if an individual offers it (without being asked) freely and in a manner free of coercion. 9

SANCTIONS Roadrunner Food Bank realizes that Sponsoring Organizations perform a valuable service to the community, and are to be commended for it. These Compliance Policies are in place to ensure that Sponsoring Organizations adhere to the standards set by Roadrunner Food Bank, Feeding America, and USDA so we can continue to provide the very best service to those we serve hungry New Mexicans. A Sponsoring Organization found to be out of compliance with Roadrunner Food Bank policies and procedures may be subject to various actions to bring the organization back into compliance. Policy violations can lead to disciplinary actions including a written notice, inactivation, and/or suspension. Roadrunner Food Bank reserves the right to take any necessary action to ensure the safety of clients and the food provided. Any Mobile Food Pantry site or Sponsoring Organization that has been sanctioned for noncompliance may appeal that sanction. Mobile Food Pantry sites and/or Sponsoring Organization appealing any sanction or lodging a complaint will not be subject to any fear of retaliation or increased sanction by Roadrunner Food Bank. Any Organization wishing to file a complaint should contact their Roadrunner Food Bank representative or the Director of Community Initiatives for further instruction. SITE VISITS AND UPDATES Roadrunner Food Bank is held to strict food industry standards for proper food handling and transport. We are inspected by local health department inspectors on a regular basis and biannually by Feeding America The Nation s Food Bank Network. Sponsor Organizations must permit, with or without appointment, site visits to their food distribution program by Roadrunner Food Bank and appropriate government agencies such as the FANS (Food and Nutrition Services) Bureau and USDA. Such visits are designed to verify proper food usage, handling and distribution as stated in these policies and procedures. 10